The Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series
With the generous support of Stamps alumna, Penny Stamps, the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series brings a broad spectrum of creative thinkers and makers to benefit the Stamps School, and the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor communities. Depending on the length of their stays, visitors present public lectures, work with Stamps students, participate in panel discussions, generate site-specific works, and give public performances. Presentations are free and open to the public.
September 12
Mary Ellen Mark
Known for both her documentary work and portraiture, photographer Mary Ellen Mark is one of the most respected and influential imagemakers of our time.
September 19
Simon McBurney
Simon McBurney is an actor, writer, director, and co-founder of Complicite, the innovative theater company where he has created and acted in more than 30 productions.
September 26
Mary Sibande
Rising young South African artist Mary Sibande constructs elaborate visual narratives that address race, gender, and class in post-colonial South Africa.
October 3
Mark Dziersk
Mark Dziersk is an industrial designer, an expert in brand management, innovation and creativity, and head of industrial design initiatives at LUNAR, one of the world’s top international industrial design firms.
October 10
Mike Kelley (1954–2012) Tribute and Screening
Before his death in 2012, Stamps graduate Mike Kelley had begun work based on a life-sized replica of his childhood suburban Detroit home. Mary Clare Stevens of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts presents videos documenting the homestead’s journey from Detroit to Kelley’s former home in Westland.
October 27
Art Is Open Source
Salvatore Iaconesi is an engineer, artist, hacker, interaction designer, and principal of Art is Open Source (AOS). AOS moves across the arts and sciences to expose the dynamics of our contemporary world.
October 24
Liza Donnelly
Known for her acute observations on cultural and political issues, Liza Donnelly has created cartoons for The New Yorker for over thirty years and is the author of fifteen books, a columnist for Forbes.com, and a cartoonist for Women’s e-News.
October 31
Joseph Keckler
Joseph Keckler is a singer, musician, writer, and interdisciplinary artist whose image-rich, humorous performances elevate the banal to operatic intensity.
November 7
Lisa Strausfeld
Lisa Strausfeld is currently Global Head of Data Visualization at Bloomberg, where she was hired to build and lead a new team dedicated to creating consumer-focused interactive data products.
November 12
Indira Freitas Johnson
Sculptor, cultural worker, activist, and educator Indira Freitas Johnson is dedicated to engaging local communities in the creative process, often creating a hybrid work that depends on and is completed with community participation.
November 14
Sputniko!
Sputniko! explores technology, feminism and pop culture. Produced with the cooperation of scientists, her works are speculations on possible futures, questioning the social, cultural, and ethical implications of new technologies.
November 21
Antony Gormley
Antony Gormley’s sculptures, installations and public artworks investigate the relationship of the human body to space, confronting where human beings stand in relation to nature and the cosmos.
December 5
John Marshall
John Marshall is a principal with Cezanne Charles in rootoftwo, LLC, a hybrid design + art studio that creates experimental objects and experiences that attempt to disrupt and expose existing systems to change perception.
For a complete roster of visitors for all semesters: art-design.umich.edu/stamps
Videos of past presentations can be found at playgallery.org/playlists/stamps.
About the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan
The Stamps School offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in art and design. The School’s unique open curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary study, requires international educational experiences, fosters community engagement, and draws on the resources only available at a top-ten research university.
For more: art-design.umich.edu
